Star Wars The Clone Wars: The Forced Clone
by Jorus C'baoth
Summary: A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away... A special clone breaks free from containment on Kamino, and travels to Coruscant a stowaway on a Republic cargo ship. He searches for help, for guidance, and a way to escape the bounty hunters sent after him. His search takes him to the most unlikely of allies in a former Padawan.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

I'd sat in the dark most of my life. Granted, it wasn't much of a life. I was technically only six standard years old, but I was physically and mentally fifteen. The few times I was allowed to see the light were when the Kaminoans gave me food or something to drink. I shouldn't actually say _Kaminoans_, either, it was just one of them. Her name was Yala Qu, and she was the closest thing to a mother that I had. Wasn't much of one, though, all she ever did was feed and water me, like I was some stray animal.

I didn't have much to entertain me, either. Every so often I would close my eyes and concentrate. My internal vision, or so I called it, allowed me to see and hear different parts of the facility. It was how I knew that my creators were called Kaminoans, actually, and how I found out what I was. I was a defective clone, like and unlike a hundred other so-called 'bad-batchers'. I was like them because I was defective, I was unlike them because of the nature of my defects. Sad thing was, I had _no_ idea what my defects were. Unlike most of the other bad-batchers, I had no physical defects, I looked just like all the other fifteen year old clones of Jango Fett. I had no mental defects, if anything, I was a little smarter than a lot of the other clones from my batch. Whatever my defects were, nobody ever talked about them.

As a matter of fact, nobody ever really talked about me. Only a couple other clones in my batch even knew I _existed_, and they thought I had been tossed in the trash pile like a few of the other defective bad-batchers. Every now and then, Yala Qu would talk with some of the other Kaminoans, but they would never mention what was wrong with me, only that it was a mistake keeping me alive and that terminating me would be a mercy that I didn't deserve. I don't know why I didn't deserve it, exactly, only that they thought of me as less than nothing and that it would be a waste of their time to kill me outright.

Good thing I didn't like any of them, except for Yala Qu. At least she _fed_ me.

I should have been listening in on them more often, because then I would have known that they were actually going to terminate me. I was sitting in the dark, like usual, when Yala Qu and another Kaminoan, Sere Za, opened the door to my private closet and told me to step out. I was surprised, it was the first time they'd ever told me to do that. Actually, it was the first time I'd ever 'met' Sere Za. He'd never showed up to feed me before. They told me to step out of my closet and then they led me through the facility. I passed dozens of other clones, all surprised to see me. I guess they'd never seen a clone with shaggy hair and the beginnings of beard stubble on his face before. I'm a little certain the reason I had beard stubble was because I never left my closet.

The Kaminoans led me into a room on the opposite side of the facility. A pretty big stretch for legs that had only ever wandered a six foot by seven foot closet before. Yala Qu ordered me to lay down on an examination bed and then she lowered a device to my face. Sere Za stood at a control panel and tapped a few buttons. The device by my face began to glow, and then I felt an intense heat. It was unbearably painful, to the point where I started reaching for the device to pull it away. Yala Qu made sure I never reached it, however, as she grabbed my hands and whispered, "Don't fight it, sixty-six, it'll be over soon."

I reached out with my mind almost on accident. Yala Qu was thrown across the room, directly at Sere Za. I pulled the device from my face and stood up, looking out at the damage I'd caused. Yala Qu and Sere Za were both against the wall, bloody and dead. I reacted the only way I knew how, which is odd considering I'd never done this in my short life, I ran. I picked the empty corridors, which were somehow very easy to find, and ended up on a landing pad on the south side of the city. Rain pelted my face for the first time, which was a refreshing feeling, despite the pain from whatever that device was that burned me.

A ship was sitting on the landing pad, devoid of any visible signs of life. It was the first time I'd seen one up close, every other time having been my internal vision. I walked up the ramp and into the cargo bay. I ran my hand along the containers, knowing their contents without even opening them. It was almost like I could feel what was inside them.

I stopped at one of the transparisteel windows and saw my reflection for the first time. A burn scar ran from my right eye to the right corner of my mouth. I touched the scar and instantly recoiled in pain. That thing had sure done a number on me.

I heard the door to the landing pad open, then voices. Similar voices. A voice I'd have if I lived long enough. A half dozen clone troopers, whose armor had blue markings on top of the usual white, walked out of the rain and into the ship. I ducked out of sight as they walked past me.

"Appo, get the ship ready. General Skywalker will want to leave as soon as he's done speaking with Minister Lama Su."

"Yes sir, Captain."

I didn't know who any of them were, although the name _General Skywalker_ sounded familiar. A few minutes later, I heard the door to the landing pad open again, and this time, I _felt_ something. I felt a presence coming toward the ship, and a tall one at that. The man who walked onto the ship had to be over six feet tall, and was completely different than the clones or I. His hair fell close to his shoulders, and he wore a tunic dominated in color by black and dark brown, and had a scar across his right eye. I'd never met this man before, I'm certain I'd never _heard_ of this man before, but I _knew_ this man was General Skywalker, and whatever defect I had, so did he.


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

Anakin Skywalker couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something had followed him from Kamino. Something had seemed _wrong_ on the transport back to the Inner Core, but whatever it was, it had gone unnoticed by everyone else, including the scanners. He took a sip of his drink and set that feeling out of his mind as his guest sat across the table from him.

Ahsoka Tano sighed as she sat down, then smiled. "Hi, Master."

Anakin smiled. "You don't need to call me _Master_ anymore, Snips. Though it does bring back memories. Pleasant and otherwise."

"Sorry, force of habit. I called you 'Master' for two years, I'm just used to saying it."

Ahsoka looked as beautiful as ever, more mature than her sixteen years. She was wearing a tight, long-sleeved, bright green shirt and black pants. She wore a black scarf around her neck, which she laid beside her after a moment. Her lightsabers still hung from her belt, despite her expulsion from the Jedi Order. She still smiled as often as possible, it seemed, and still enjoyed cracking wise whenever she had the chance.

Anakin still couldn't shake that feeling. He looked around and couldn't see anything that looked like a threat, or even looked mildly threatening. The only two people he was certain could use the Force in that diner were himself and Ahsoka, and Ahsoka clearly wasn't threatening him. What was that feeling?

"Stop it," she said, bringing his focus back to the table.

"What?"

"I said, stop it. I can feel that you're looking around for something to hurt you. What's going on?"

He sighed. He'd never been able to hide his feelings from Ahsoka. Or from Padme, for that matter, all the more odd considering Padme wasn't Force sensitive. "I've had this feeling ever since Rex and I got back from Kamino. It's not something I can pin down easily, it's like something's been _following_ me, something strong in the Force, with some real control, yet no knowledge of what it's doing, exactly."

She frowned. "Does anybody else know you feel it?"

"No. Rex, maybe. He asked me about it on the transport home."

"Maybe you should tell someone on the Council."

He smiled. "How'd you get smarter than me, anyway?"

She smirked. "Well, hang around Anakin Skywalker long enough, and you start thinking the ways he doesn't."

* * *

The only name he had for himself was CT 4429-66, so he decided that he was going to call himself 'Sixty-Six', like the Kaminoans had. It wasn't a particularly good name, it wasn't really even much of a name _at all_, but it was as close to one as he was going to get for a while, at least until he found out what was wrong with him. He was hoping that following the odd sensations he'd had since Kamino would do the trick, but so far, all it had given him was a diner in the middle of the city.

Middle of the city wasn't exactly the right thing to say, either. The entire _planet_ seemed to be a city. There were speeders and transports and frigates and occasionally star cruisers flying around everywhere. Back on Kamino, whenever he'd used his internal vision to see space craft, he'd only seen small cargo transports or, occasionally, troop transports that would have carried the clones to the larger star cruisers. He'd never actually seen a speeder before, or a star cruiser, and his first sight of one of the _Venator_-class ships had nearly taken his breath away.

Sixty-Six stood outside the diner, in an alleyway that was, technically, on a separate platform, though a force field walkway connected the two when it was activated. He watched the front doors of the diner as various people or aliens walked in and out, sometimes with carry-out boxes or drinks. He had been standing there for hours, and was starting to get a cramp in his leg when his odd sensation kicked up again. He glanced back over at the door and saw two individuals step out, the General Skywalker that he'd seen on the cargo transport on Kamino and a young alien girl—a Togruta, something in his head told him. They gave each other light hugs and then, finally, parted ways.

And with that, the sensation also parted. Into two.

Both General Skywalker and the Togruta carried the sensation, and both in extremely high amounts. He wondered which would would be the best one to approach. General Skywalker didn't exactly look old, but he looked older than the girl, who couldn't have been any older than Sixty-Six himself. He would have more experience, obviously. The girl, though she wasn't very old, seemed to have more maturity to her. She carried herself more like a young woman than the teenage girl she was. There was a good chance that she wouldn't have the stubbornness that comes with experience.

The girl it was.

Sixty-Six pulled up the hood of his stolen poncho. He'd taken it from what appeared to be a dead man in a different alley, but he couldn't actually tell if the man was dead or not. He wasn't human, he'd been a Ithorian, and to be honest, Sixty-Six had no idea if the Ithorian had actually been a male, but with no reference to Ithorian genders (and, to be honest, only basic knowledge of the word _Ithorian_ and a mental picture of the species), he made an assumption. Underneath the poncho, he wore the same simple shirt and trousers he'd worn in his closet on Kamino, while his boots were stolen from one of the cargo containers on the transport. There must have been at least a few clones his age somewhere on the planet.

The girl made her way through the streets and alleys of Coruscant (as he learned the planet was called, while following her), until she, at one point, ducked inside a building. Sixty-six wanted to hit himself. _She saw me at some point_, he thought. He decided to just be direct, and followed her inside the building, which appeared to be an apartment complex, and once he was inside, he was shoved against a wall, and the girl ignited what he somehow knew to be a lightsaber and held it to his throat.

"I'm not a big fan of stalkers, so explain yourself and maybe I'll let you go with _both_ arms," she said, moving the blade of the lightsaber a little closer to his throat.

"I'm... not entirely sure how to explain any of this," he responded. "I have these weird feelings and they led me to you and that General Skywalker guy."

She deactivated the lightsaber and backed away from him, then looked him over with a very cautious eye. "You're a clone," she said, as if she'd just noticed for the first time. Maybe she had, he couldn't tell.

"Yeah, I am. I call myself Sixty-Six."

"You don't have a full number?"

"I do, forty-four twenty-nine dash sixty-six, but it's a little tough to say all that whenever I introduce myself." He scratched his chin. "Then again, you're the first person I've actually introduced myself to."

The girl pushed back the hood on his poncho. "What happened to your face?"

He had almost forgotten about his distinguishing scar. "The Kaminoans tried to destroy me. Because I'm different."

"You're... Force-sensitive?"

He felt his eyebrow raise. "What's that? Is that why I feel weird things?"

She looked him over again. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen, biologically speaking. I'm technically only six."

She folded her arms across her chest. "How did you escape if the Kaminoans tried to kill you?"

He sighed. "I sneaked on board a cargo ship. General Skywalker's ship."

"And he never saw or sensed you?"

"I'd imagine he sensed me. I could sense him the whole way here, but I kept myself hidden amongst the cargo. He never sent anyone looking for me, if that's what you're asking."

She was still studying him, he could tell. Not just with her eyes, but with this Force that she mentioned, as well. He could feel it happening, and it was a very odd sensation. After a few moments, she asked, "They tried to kill you because you're Force-sensitive?"

"Yeah, like I said."

"And you don't know how or why you're Force-sensitive?"

"I didn't even know what Force-sensitive _was_ until you said it. I just knew I was different from all the other clones on Kamino. Clones I never actually met. They kept me in a closet all day. I only ever saw light when they gave me food."

Sixty-Six saw concern cross over her face. "They locked you up? That's just cruel."

He chuckled. "You don't have to tell me."

* * *

For a long time, Ahsoka didn't know what to make of Sixty-Six. She wanted to help him, but didn't know how to help him. The only thing she could think of would be to take him to the Council, but she didn't know what they'd make of him. _They_ might even want to kill him. She would hope that they wouldn't, but they didn't exactly give her the best impression on their last meeting.

Sixty-Six ate like he hadn't been fed before, and considering what he'd told her, the Kaminoans probably hadn't given him much food, those times that they actually fed him. He didn't look malnourished, but he did look small for a clone his age. She wondered when the cloners had discovered his Force-sensitivity.

Sixty-Six looked much like other fifteen year old clones, save for the light beard he'd started to grow and the scar on the right side of his face. She assumed he'd gotten the scar from the Kaminoans attempt to kill him, though she didn't actually know. Once again, she was struck by just how handsome Jango Fett must have been when he was her age, because Sixty-Six was pretty easy on the eyes, despite the scar.

Ahsoka stepped into her bedroom and pulled her old comlink out of her night table drawer. She hoped that Anakin wasn't busy. She keyed his frequency. "Anakin?"

He wasted no time in answering. "Okay, we just met for lunch about an hour ago, what's wrong, Ahsoka?"

"Um... this may sound weird, but are you alone?"

Master Kenobi's voice came over the comlink next. "No, he's not, Ahsoka. What can we help you with?"

"Master Kenobi?"

There was a hint of annoyance in his voice. "It's good to speak to you again as well, little one."

"Sorry, I didn't mean... Listen, is there any chance at least one of you can swing by my apartment ASAP?"

Anakin asked, "What's going on?"

"You'll see when you get here. It's a doozy."

* * *

Anakin set his comlink back on his belt and looked at his old master with what he could only assume was surprise. "She's never asked me anything like that before."

"Not since she left the Order. What do you suppose is the matter?" Obi-Wan Kenobi asked, running his fingers along his mustache. "Do you have any idea where her apartment is?"

"Not far from Dex's diner, maybe a few kilometers east."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Well then, let's go see what it is your former Padawan has to show us. Shall we?"

* * *

Sixty-Six washed his face for the first time in his life. He hadn't realized how dirty he was until he looked at himself in a mirror, then he saw that he looked a mess. He wondered if he should do anything about his light beard, but decided against it. If anything, it, along with his scar, made him stand apart from any other clones. Clones on Kamino were required to keep their faces clean-shaven, and their hair trimmed. His hair was quite shaggy, thanks to his years in that closet.

He patted his face down with a towel and then sighed. Back in that closet, he'd only wondered what he would do if he ever escaped and saw freedom. Now, he was free, and he _still_ had no idea what he was going to do. He was lucky that Ahsoka had not only believed him, but had offered him a place to stay for the time being. He couldn't deny that she was pretty nice to look at, too, but _those_ ideas were neither here nor there in his current situation.

He leaned forward, toward the mirror and asked himself a very simple question: _Who am I?_ It was a question he'd asked himself many many times before, usually in the dark, mentally watching everything around him using what he now knew as _the Force_. He had no name, save for his shortened serial number, but that wasn't what he needed. What he needed was an _identity_, and the unique name that went with it.

Sixty-Six stood straight up and sighed again. For the hundred-thousandth time, he still had no answer for himself. It wasn't a surprise, just a disappointment.

He sensed something approaching. Something familiar, alongside something that wasn't. He recognized the familiar feeling as General Skywalker, but had no idea what to make of the other one. He left the refresher station and found Ahsoka standing in the entrance chamber. She motioned for him to sit down on the couch.

"Before you freak out or anything, I'd just like you to know, I called for some help about you."

He nodded. "One of them is General Skywalker."

Surprise took hold of her face. "How did you know?"

"I can feel him. I can feel someone else, too, but I don't know who they are."

"Don't worry, they're friends. Hopefully, we'll all figure something out."

"I hope so, too."

* * *

Anakin felt uneasy again. That same feeling he'd had on the transport and then at Dex's diner once again took root and grabbed him.

"You sense it too, Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked, stepping out of the elevator.

"I was hoping I was just dreaming it. You, too?"

"This isn't your first time, is it?"

"No. Once before on the transport back from Kamino, and then again when I met Ahsoka for lunch. No coincidence, right?"

"Master Qui-Gon never believed in coincidences. This is probably the first time I've ever understood that belief. Be mindful."

Anakin smiled. "Still the teacher, huh?"

Obi-Wan smiled back at him. "Some things never change, my old Padawan."

They walked down the corridor to Ahsoka's apartment. Now more than ever, Anakin knew that his feelings were no coincidence: the uneasy feeling was coming straight from his former pupil's home. He knocked on the door, waited, and made sure his lightsaber was in easy reach just in case something was wrong.

When Ahsoka answered the door, she looked very nervous. Nevertheless, she allowed them in, they followed her from the door to the conversation lounge, where a young clone was seated at the couch, taking a drink of water from a cup on the table. Anakin didn't need to focus his senses, that clone was the source of his uneasy feelings.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met," Obi-Wan began, moving closer to the clone very cautiously.

Ahsoka stepped between them, almost parent-like. "This is Sixty-Six, and he's why I called you here."

"What's goin' on, Snips?" Anakin asked

The clone—Sixty-Six—stood up. "_I'm_ what's going on." He looked directly toward Anakin. "You've been feeling something odd for some time now? It started when you left Kamino, and then just a few hours ago?"

"You?"

"Yeah."

Ahsoka piped in, "He's Force-sensitive."

Obi-Wan folded his arms across his chest. "That's unheard of. The Kaminoans use very specific markers to suppress midi-clorian counts in the clones. How did this happen?"

Sixty-Six answered, "I don't know. Ever since the cloners found out, they kept me locked up in a closet, under the pretense that I was just a simple bad-batcher. I was locked in with my thoughts and this... Force... so I just spent my days reaching out and watching things all over Kamino."

Anakin noticed his scar for the first time. "How'd _that_ happen?" he asked.

Sixty-Six touched the scar, then answered, "They tried to kill me. I... it was an accident, but I..."

Obi-Wan finished for him, "Killed them? You killed the Kaminoans that tried to kill you?"

"Yes, but it was an accident. I simply reached out, and suddenly the device they were going to use to kill me was flying off its base and had killed them. I didn't even realize I was doing it."

Obi-Wan sighed. "It's not uncommon, a Force-user accidentally using too much power and injuring others. Do the Kaminoans know you've escaped?"

"I don't know. After it happened, I just ran, and ended up on General Skywalker's transport."

Obi-Wan pulled Anakin and Ahsoka into a side room and shut the door. Anakin didn't know what to think about it all. A Force-sensitive clone that the Kaminoans had tried to kill, simply to hide what had happened. Despite knowing exactly what the uneasy feeling was, it didn't go away. There was still something about Sixty-Six, something he couldn't quite place.

Obi-Wan walked over to the window and looked out in the direction of the Jedi Temple. "He's a danger. I don't enjoy saying it, but it's true." He turned back to the other two occupants of the room. "How did he find you?" he directed the question toward Ahsoka.

"He followed me after Anakin and I left lunch."

Obi-Wan nodded. "He's quite strong in the Force, and he's got a certain degree of self-training, but the actions he described on Kamino... What do you two think?"

Anakin answered first. "We should take him to the Temple. The Council needs to know about him, to put pressure on the Kaminoans. If they've destroyed other Force-sensitive clones, they're almost aiding the Separatists."

"Not intentionally, Anakin. We don't know how this works from their side, this Force-sensitivity _could_ involve some sort of defect in the clones' biology."

Ahsoka stepped forward. "I _don't_ think you should take him to the Council. What if they want to kill him, too?"

"What are you getting at?"

"He's... well... if the Council sees him as a real threat, they might decide that it's better to just kill him than deal with the threat down the line."

"He _is_ a threat, Ahsoka. With nothing but self-training and a will to live, he murdered Kaminoans. I respect his will to live, but if he _is_ to live, he needs more training. At any rate, the Kaminoans need to be made aware that he's under Jedi protection. If not, suppose they send someone after him, and another surprise outburst kills not only the threat to his life, but many others around him?"

Anakin stretched out and felt Ahsoka's concern. He could tell that she didn't want Sixty-Six out of her sight. He thought a moment before speaking, then finally said, "We take him to the Council, but we put Ahsoka in charge of training him."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "Anakin, that's not one of your better plans. Ahsoka didn't finish _her own_ Jedi training." He turned to Ahsoka. "No offense, young one."

Ahsoka looked as though she wanted to say something, but Anakin spoke first. "Ahsoka was far enough along in her training. The Council would say he's too old to train, but Ahsoka isn't a member of the Order. However unorthodox it is, she can teach him."

"Thanks, Sky-Guy." She turned to Obi-Wan. "I can do it, Master. I may not be a Force-sensitive clone, but I know a little of what he's been through. Master Plo Koon always talked about how dangerous _I_ could be if I didn't have training."

His old master rubbed his fingers along his mustache, then finally said, "I'll have to take this option to the Council. We'll let them decide. Until then, Sixty-Six needs to be taken to the Temple."

"Then I'm going with him. He trusted _me_, Master, not either of you. I need to be there."

"Fine." He walked over to Ahsoka and put his hand on her shoulder. "I hope you know what you're doing. It seems as though you're getting quite attached to Sixty-Six."

"I'm not a member of the Order anymore, Master. Attachment isn't forbidden for me."

Anakin smirked, but he wanted to laugh.

* * *

Sixty-Six couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could feel their conflicts. The one who's name he still didn't know seemed to be leading the conversation, General Skywalker wasn't saying much, and Ahsoka was most assuredly working in his defense. He wondered what exactly they were saying about him. He knew he was dangerous, and that the older Jedi with the beard was probably bringing that up right now.

He took a very long gulp of water and then stood up when the three of them returned to the conversation room. The bearded one stepped toward him. "This situation is very peculiar, Sixty-Six. We're going to take you to the Jedi Temple, where the Council will decide what is to be done with you."

"And if they choose to kill me?" he asked.

"We're not going to let that happen," General Skywalker answered.

Sixty-Six inwardly sighed, then said, "Alright, let's go."


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Sixty-Six couldn't be more impressed with the Jedi Temple. It was a grand structure, and everywhere around him were Force users similar to himself. He saw youngling children playing, or studying with this Jedi Master or that Jedi Master. A group of Padawan girls chattered off to the side of the main corridor. As they passed a window, he saw another few Padawans dueling in what Ahsoka told him was the Sparring Garden. Lightsabers twisted and twirled and flashed and clashed. For the first time, he had to thank Yala Qu for trying to kill him. If she hadn't, he'd still be stuck on Kamino, and would miss this very amazing sight.

_Not to mention Ahsoka herself_.

He could only assume it was his imprisonment causing his feelings about her, but he definitely found her attractive. Not only that, but she had stuck up for him to General Skywalker and Master Kenobi, something no one had ever done for him before, that he knew of. That alone made her one of the best people he'd ever met, so few that he had.

Master Kenobi stopped outside a room that looked like it was used for something other than just conversations, though the only pieces of furniture that dominated it were three seats. "Wait in the meditation chamber, Anakin and I will explain this to the Council."

Ahsoka nodded, then led Sixty-Six into the room. The door shut behind them. He sat down on one of the seats and sat in wait. Ahsoka did the same, howver she sat cross-legged, folded her hands in her lap, and closed her eyes. He assumed she was meditating, so he tried to do the same. He closed his eyes and waited, waited, waited... but there was nothing.

"What's the matter?" she asked, opening one of her eyes.

He looked up at the ceiling and saw that the lights were off, then looked over at the window. "Is there any way to close these blinds?"

She opened her other eye now. "What for?"

"What's meditating like? Do you stretch out, feel things across the whole of the building or the planet?"

She chuckled. "Yeah, why?"

"I was doing that in my closet back on Kamino, but I was doing it in the dark."

She stood up and walked over to him. "So, you're saying, if it's pitch black in here, you can meditate."

"Something like that."

She walked over to a control panel and pressed a button. The large blinds closed, bathing the room in darkness. "How's this?"

He stretched out with the Force and, despite the blackness of the room, he could see her as clearly as if it were daylight. "Better."

"It's a weird way of meditating, but I guess if it helps, why not, right?"

"Is it hard for you to see?"

"Not really. I've been in this room enough to memorize where everything is, and I've been in my fair share of dark, creepy places.

A new voice spoke up from the darkness, "A refreshing way to meditate, this is."

* * *

Obi-Wan left the Council chambers and sighed. "It's not like Master Yoda to ignore a call to meet. And he's not out on assignment."

Anakin turned around to look at his old master. "So, did anything happen?"

"No. Master Windu suggested we wait for Master Yoda. No one can find him, though, and he's not answering his comlink."

"Maybe we should look. He's likely still in the Temple, right?"

"It's as good a guess as any."

* * *

Ahsoka hadn't heard—or _felt—_Master Yoda enter the meditation chamber. He was just _there_ suddenly, sitting on the third seat. However it was he entered the room, he was there now, looking at Sixty-Six.

For his part, Sixty-Six appeared to be studying the small green Jedi Grand Master.

Yoda spoke again. "A clone, you are. A _unique_ clone, you are."

"Yes, I am," Sixty-Six said, not really answering a question.

"Strong in the Force, you are." He made one of his mumbling noises. "An odd thing, for a clone, that is." Ahsoka still couldn't see Yoda, but she imagined he was scratching at his chin with his long fingernails. "From Kamino, you came. In secret, it was. After a great tragedy."

Sixty-Six looked away for a moment. "I accidentally murdered two Kaminoans. They were trying to kill me."

More mumbles, and a _hrmm_ or two. "Sincere, your voice is. The truth, you speak."

"It's all I have, sir."

Yoda mumbled some more, then he reached out with his hand. "Great fear, I sense in you. Fear of death. Afraid of the Jedi, you are, and the Kaminoans."

"Yes, I am. Master Kenobi told me that the Jedi Council may have reason to find me dangerous enough to destroy me. Is that true?"

Yoda closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "No danger do I sense from you. If training and discipline you are taught, no danger will you pose to any but your enemies."

"I don't think I have any enemies."

"A sad thing it is, that enemies, all beings have." With a wave of his hand, Yoda opened the blinds again and the room was filled with midday sunlight. "To the Council chambers, we will go. Meet them, you must."

Sixty-Six stood up. "But, Master Kenobi told me to wait here."

Ahsoka decided it was time to speak. "This is Master Yoda, Grand Master of the Jedi Order, he is—um..." She blushed. She looked down at Yoda and saw him smirking.

"That effect on people, I have."

* * *

Anakin followed Obi-Wan through the corridors of the Jedi Temple, in their attempt to find their wayward Master, but he didn't present himself. That is, until they found him leading Ahsoka and Sixty-Six toward the Council chambers. Yoda chuckled when they found each other. "Found your former Padawan, I have, Skywalker."

"I can see that, Master Yoda. You've met Sixty-Six, I presume?"

The small green Jedi nodded. "Met him, I have. Great potential, I see in him." The older Jedi pushed past them. "Come. To the Council chambers, we must go."

Obi-Wan just smiled. "You heard the man."

* * *

Sixty-Six was quite impressed with the Council chambers. The room didn't look at _all_ like he assumed it would. He expected a conference room, with tables, chairs, and a grand chair at one end for the Grand Master of the Order. What he found instead was a simple room with large windows and several chairs situated around the room, with the Grand Master's chair opposite the door. It was simple, sparse, and didn't draw too much attention to itself. If not for its location in the central spire of the building, anyone could pass it and just see a simple room where a few people might converge to speak to one another.

The dark-skinned Jedi Master, Mace Windu, spent the most time studying him. Another Jedi, Ki-Adi Mundi, was represented only by hologram, but he, too, watched with patient eyes. All around him, Jedi Masters watched him, studied him, stretched out with their senses and examined him. He wondered if this was but something they did when a newcomer—a unique one at that—entered the Temple, or if this was just something they did whenever anyone was in their chamber.

The only one not studying him was Yoda, who sat cross-legged in his chair and sipped at a cup of some Corellian tea. Sixty-Six already had a great deal of respect for the wise alien, thanks in no small part to the sense of inner peace he felt coming from the small green Jedi. It was extremely soothing.

Master Windu leaned forward in his seat. "You're studying us, as well." It wasn't a question, Sixty-Six realized, it was a statement.

"I hope I'm not intruding. Reaching out with my senses is just something I do."

Master Mundi spoke, "Studying one's surroundings is a valuable trait, one you share with the rest of your clone brethren." He interlocked his fingers and began tapping on his chin with his index fingers. "A Jedi also possesses this skill."

"I'm not claiming I'm a Jedi—"

Master Yoda cut him off, "A Jedi, you can be. However, standard training, you cannon receive."

A very odd-looking Jedi Master—Ahsoka had identified him as Plo Koon—spoke up, "There is a certain age to begin your training, and even with your real standard age, you're still too old."

Anakin stood forward. "Masters, I'd like to make a suggestion."

_When did he get there?_ Sixty-Six asked himself. He hadn't noticed the tall Jedi standing behind him, only Ahsoka to his left.

"Speak, Skywalker," Master Windu said, leaning back in his chair.

"Even though she chose to leave the Order, Ahsoka would make a very good teacher for Sixty-Six. She was close enough to the Trials, she was almost a Jedi Knight. She can teach Sixty-Six what he needs to keep his power in check."

Master Windu looked to Master Yoda, but neither of them said anything to one another. They turned back to face the room, and Windu was about to say something, until Yoda cut him off. "A fine teacher, Ahsoka will make." He looked at each one of the Masters in turn, stopping briefly to nod at Master Kenobi. "Agree with you, the Council does. Ahsoka's pupil, Sixty-Six will be."

* * *

"So, you're new to this whole _teacher_ thing, right?" Sixty-Six asked as they entered the Sparring Gardens.

"From this side of it, yes," Ahsoka answered, sitting down in the grass across from Sixty-Six, who was already sitting down. "I've been on your side before, though." She took a deep breath. "Okay, one of the first things Anakin did when I became his Padawan was to make me open and close the windows. _All_ of the windows."

Sixty-Six looked around the Gardens and didn't see any indication that the windows could even close. "So, these things actually close?"

"It's tough to notice at first." She closed her eyes and then, suddenly, shutters closed on every window that looked out into the Gardens. "See? Now, you try. It shouldn't be easy, at first."

Sixty-Six sighed. "Okay." He closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. He felt a sensation not unlike what floating on a cloud would feel like, and then he felt it multiplied, to the point where he almost felt as if he was in two places at once. His senses were starting to feel overloaded, and then he started to feel like he was out of breath. His eyes shot open, and then he saw Ahsoka fall to the grass. He bolted up and ran to help her up, but she simply stood and brushed herself off. "Are you okay? What happened?"

She chuckled. "Look," she pointed around the Gardens at the windows. Each and every one of them was open. "Not only that, but you also lifted me up off the ground."

"I did? How did I do that?"

She knocked on his forehead. "With the Force, dummy!"

* * *

Mace Windu looked at Tano teaching the clone and sighed inwardly. He wasn't entirely sure Master Yoda had the right idea with this one. It wasn't something he felt often, and he didn't like it one bit. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then let his feelings pass through him, hopefully away from him.

"Not sure of me, you are," Yoda said, suddenly standing beside him.

"I'm not sure of _them_," he responded.

"A good teacher, Ahsoka will make."

"She left the Order before her own training was complete, her skills as a teacher are—"

Yoda cut him off. "Her skills as a teacher, well founded, they are. Too spread out, we are, for new Padawans. Hurt us, this Clone War has."

"Certainly someone could have taken the clone under their wing. Master Kota, perhaps?"

"Distrustful of clones, Master Kota is."

"And what are we to do about the Kaminoans? First, they don't tell us about the inhibitor chip in the normal clones, and now we have these Force-sensitive clones that they're willing to destroy without ever even informing them of their gifts."

"Visit the cloners, I will." He let out a _hrm_ sound. "Question them about this, I will."

Mace rubbed at his chin. "Perhaps I should go, instead. This clone is hardly less than two standard years old. They had him in confinement before the Clone Wars began. They _neglected_ to tell you about him when you arrived there."

Yoda nodded. "A good idea, that is. Do that, you should." Mace nodded back, then turned to head for the docking bay. Before he got out of earshot, Yoda added, "To Master Shaak Ti, from me, say hello."

* * *

Obi-Wan set his cup of Jawa juice down on the holotable and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. The reports on the Mid Rim battles were coming in night and day, day after day. He wanted to take a nap at least _once_ this month. Anakin walked in and patted him on the shoulder, then set his own cup down on the holotable.

"How goes the hunt for Grievous?"

Obi-Wan looked at his friend and once again thought about just how odd Anakin was. He seemed to have nearly unlimited amounts of stamina, these days, always on the hunt for General Grievous. One of these days, he was going to ask him how he did it.

Obi-Wan sighed. "Not go—" he gargled out, then cleared his throat. "Not good. The General hasn't put in an appearance for a few weeks now. That's longer than usual."

"Just great. How are we supposed to catch him, now?"

"Put it out of your mind, Anakin. The moment will arrive for us to capture Grievous, and it won't present itself any sooner than that." He took another drink of his juice. "How's Ahsoka doing in her new role as a teacher?"

Anakin shrugged. "I don't know. I was speaking with Master Vos, then came straight here. I imagine she's doing well, if I was even half the teacher you were."

Obi-Wan smiled. "You did just fine, Anakin. Ahsoka's turned into a fine young Jedi, even after leaving the Order."

"Well, I owe it all to you, Master. If you hadn't been such a good teacher, I'd have screwed up on Christophsis."

* * *

Sixty-Six took several deep breaths and then concentrated. In his mind's eye, he could see the potted plant—some exotic species from Felucia, Ahsoka had told him—move from the pedestal behind him to a similar pedestal halfway up the wall to his left. He opened his eyes and took a look up, and saw that the plant had actually moved. He was quite impressed with himself.

Ahsoka was nodding and smiling off to his right. He looked at her and started smiling himself. Her smile was quite contagious. He stood up and walked over to her, then made a small bow.

"What was that for?" She asked.

"I look through these windows and see Padawans doing it to Knights, or Knights to Masters, or even Masters to other Masters or Knights or Padawans. Isn't it something Jedi just _do_?" He realized what he said, then added, "I mean, I'm not exactly a Jedi, but I'm learning from one, though."

She hugged him. "Thanks."

"What's _this_ for?"

She pulled away. "You called me a Jedi. _That's_ what."

Master Yoda slowly crossed the Gardens to where they were. "And an excellent teacher, she has made." He stopped and leaned on his cane. "Three hours, it has been, and much progress, have you made."

Sixty-Six looked up into the sky and saw that the sun, which had been higher in the sky before, was now crossing the threshold into evening. "Wow, I didn't realize it had only been three hours."

"Flies, the time can." He smirked. "_Much_ progress, you have made."

"Is this normal?"

Yoda shrugged. "Typical, no Jedi is. Ones such as you, even less typical, they are." He smiled again. "A fine Jedi, you will make."

_We'll see_, Sixty-Six said to himself.

* * *

Mace stood on the command deck of the _Absolution_ and watched the hyperspace sky fly past them. He let his feelings flow outward again, sensing that he was letting his need for answers dominate his actions. Though his primary course of action _was_ to get answers from the Kaminoans about their actions against Force-sensitive clones, he was also going to get the next batch of clones that had passed their exams.

A part of him dreaded this expedition to the cloner planet.


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

The diner that Sixty-Six had first encountered Ahsoka was called Dex's, and, according to Ahsoka, had the best food on Coruscant. He couldn't really judge that, just based on the Shadaan eel that he was eating, but at least it was better than the stuff Yala Qu fed him back on Kamino. His one problem was that the eel kept sliding off the fork. Ahsoka kept laughing at him as he tried to keep his meal under control.

"Maybe you should use a spoon," she said through a gaggle of giggles. He perserveered, however, and kept going with the fork, which earned him more laughs and giggles as he kept dropping his food back onto the plate. Eventually, however, he started laughing along with her.

They talked for some time. It was mostly Ahsoka talking about her life, and her training alongside Master Skywalker. She spoke about the many battles they had gone through in the Clone Wars, and all the different lessons she had learned. One story that particularly intrigued him was a duel onboard a Jedi Cruiser against a dark Jedi assassin named Asajj Ventress. He listened very closely, very interested in everything she'd been through in just the past two years since the beginning of the Clone Wars.

He spoke of himself, as well, but not much. Being locked in a closet for most of his life, Sixty-Six didn't _have_ any stories to tell of himself. He envied her, very much. He wondered if he could even have half of the adventures she'd been on.

At one point, he felt something, something odd. He looked outside and saw someone standing across the force field bridge, in much the same manner he was earlier, just before meeting Ahsoka.

"I sense it, too," she said, "what do you think it is?"

Sixty-Six simply answered, "Him."

* * *

Mace walked into Lama Su's office and sat down in the seat across from him. The Kaminoan Prime Minister was busily punching numbers into his datapad and then, only when he was done, set it down on the floating table beside his seat. "How can I help you, Master Windu?"

Mace crossed one leg over the other and sat back in a very relaxed manner. "New new troops are being put on my cruiser as we speak, but I'm here for another matter entirely. Cee-Tee forty-four twenty-nine."

Lama Su's serene face gave nothing away, but his subtle changes in the Force did. He would lie about it, but Lama Su knew exactly what Mace was talking about. "I'm afraid I have no idea who that clone is." And there it was.

"I sense some apprehension in your voice, Prime Minister."

The Kaminoan sighed. "I'm sorry, Master Jedi, I mean no apprehension. Can you please explain the meaning of your inquiry?"

"Cee-Tee forty-four twenty-nine is a Force-sensitive clone that appeared on Coruscant after two Kaminoan scientists tried to kill him. Physical age fifteen, biological age six."

Lama Su's neck leaned forward. "Force-sensitive, you say? Impossible. We have supressor chips placed in the clones, pre-embryonic stage. This _clone_ you speak of must have been created as an experiment by these scientists you speak of. Tell me, what were their names?"

"Yala Qu and Sere Ze. Both dead."

"Yes, an unfortunate accident in the embryonic stasis bay, we also lost twenty-seven percent of our Jango Fett DNA as well."

Mace detected more falsehoods in his speech. "And yet you've reported no setbacks or difficulties in clone production. If this was a simple accident, why would you not make us aware of it? We _are_ using your clones to fight a war, Prime Minister."

Lama Su smiled. "I'm sorry, Master Jedi. We should have informed you of it via HoloNet hours ago, but our staff has been busy trying to replicate the affected DNA in such a short time. With any luck, clone production will not be greatly affected."

Mace sighed, making it look as though he was losing his patience. "I suppose you truly don't know anything about Cee-Tee forty-four twenty-nine, then. If only Yala Qu and Sere Ze were still alive for questioning." He stood up, as did Lama Su, and both men bowed to one another. "I need to return to my ship and oversee the cargo transportation after the new clones are transferred over."

"I understand, Master Jedi, I am sorry that I was unable to aid you. Perhaps we can work together to find out the truth about Cee-Tee forty-four twenty-nine dash sixty-six."

Mace had turned away from the Kaminoan, so his smile was hidden. He had deliberately left out the last two numbers of Sixty-Six's serial number, and the Prime Minister, who supposedly knew nothing about this particular clone, somehow knew these last two numbers.

He turned back to Lama Su. "I'm sure you can provide me some more information now, Prime Minister." He used the Force to lock the door. "I never told you the last two digits in his serial number were _sixty-six_."

Lama Su's already wide eyes widened even further. "You played me, Master Jedi."

* * *

Sixty-Six kept his eye on the figure across the force field bridge. Ahsoka paid for their meal and then asked Dex if there was a back door. He pointed one of his huge thumbs at the door to the kitchen. She thanked him, grabbed Sixty-Six by the collar, and pulled him into the kitchen. The many droid and non-droid cooks made a fuss or a whatever it was that passed for a fuss for their programming or species, but they let the two teenagers pass.

They had just made it to the back door when it opened, and the figure they'd seen across the walkway was standing there, his arms folded across his chest. He wore armor that looked very much like a Mandalorian's though instead of the silver and dark blue of the Mandalorian's she'd met, his armor was silver and green, with a red trim around certain areas, like the visor in his helmet. _Bounty hunter_, she thought, grabbing for her lightsabers.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the bounty hunter said, in an eerily familiar voice.

"Well, lucky for both of us, you're _not_ me." She ignited the lightsaber in her left hand and held the blade toward the bounty hunter's throat.

The bounty hunter drew one of his blaster pistols and pointed it Ahsoka's head. "Think you can cut my head off before I blast yours to bits?"

She pegged it: It was a slightly younger sounding version of Sixty-Six's voice. It was a _clone_ under that helmet, and a young one at that, maybe a year or two younger than Sixty-Six was physically. Suddenly only one name came to mind. "Boba Fett."

"Good instincts, Jedi, now step aside and give me this bad-batcher before I have to kill you, too."

Before Ahsoka could move, Boba was pushed back, knocking him onto his back in the process. One of his blasters went flying, slipping over the edge of the platform. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Sixty-Six was holding his left arm forward, fingers spread.

"Did you do that?" she asked.

"Well if you didn't, I must have. It's what I was _planning_ to do, anyway," he answered, lowering his arm. "Now, c'mon, let's get going!"

As they passed him, Boba was already standing back up. Ahsoka paid him no mind, however, she just kept running. They hit her speeder in moments, and then they were in the skylanes, speeding away from Boba Fett.

* * *

Or so they thought. Boba pulled his datapad out of his side pouch and turned it on. The tracking beacon he'd put on the Jedi's speeder was working just fine. He pressed a button on his gauntlet and waited for his speeder bike to arrive. _A Jedi and a clone. Should be interesting._

* * *

Sixty-Six was just starting to feel good about getting away, until he felt the bounty hunter behind them. He turned around and saw that distinctive green armor riding a speeder bike, pulling out one of his blasters. Sixty-Six ducked when the first shot hit the rear cargo compartment.

"Looks like we picked up a tail!" he yelled over the wind rushing past them.

"City security should be on us all in just a few minutes, until then, use my lightsaber and block his shots!"

"I've never done that before!"

She pulled one of her lightsabers off of her belt and handed it to him. "Nothing to it, just relax and feel it out!"

He took the lightsaber and sighed, then took a deep breath, climbed on top of the cargo compartment, and ignited the lightsaber. It was his first time using the distinctive Jedi weapon, he was surprised he found the activater. The bounty hunter fired a few more shots, which Sixty-Six managed to block quite well, considering this was his first time even trying to block blaster bolts. The bolts hit buildings, signs, one even hit a giant screen with the Supreme Chancellor's face on it. He was starting to feel confident until one of the shots hit him on the shoulder. The pain wasn't as bad as when the Kaminoans burned his face, but that didn't stop it from hurting.

Focusing on nothing but Ahsoka's speeder and the bounty hunter's speeder bike, he put the pain out of his mind and kept up the blaster blocking. Shot after shot, the blade flashed this way and that, knocking the bolts away from both the speeder and, more importantly, from Ahsoka. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a fairly small alleyway, just to the right. "Take that alley!" he shouted, hoping the bounty hunter didn't hear. Ahsoka turned the speeder hard right, nearly sending him off of it and into the traffic below.

* * *

Sebulba the Dug sometimes missed the thrill-a-minute joy of podracing. The speed, the chase, the many different ways he could find to defeat his competitors. He stuffed a Kurg hopper in his mouth and chewed slowly. The stringy flesh of the hopper was probably the best thing he'd tasted since leaving Tatooine.

As he munched down on his second hopper, something sped past him, knocking him off of his seat and making him pull the bowl of hoppers down on him. The Kurg sludge water drenched his tunic. He looked down the alleyway at the vehicle that caused this and saw someone standing on the back of a speeder, carrying a lightsaber.

In Huttese, he shouted, "Freaking Jedi! Ruined my meal!"

* * *

"He's not following us!" Sixty-Six shouted over the wind.

"No! Because he's in front!" He turned around and saw Ahsoka pointing at the bounty hunter, siting on his speeder bike and aiming his blasters at them. In a flash of pure instinct, Sixty-Six jumped off of the speeder, spun in mid-air, sliced the front stabilizers off of the bounty hunter's bike, then landed back on the speeder as Ahsoka passed the bike. "Good job!"

"I don't know how I did that!" he shouted, slipping back into his seat.

"You're clearly a natural with a lightsaber!"

Ahsoka stopped the speeder once they arrived at a landing platform, then they rested for a minute. Sixty-Six asked, "Is this what Jedi normally do?"

She giggled, then said, "My first day as a Padawan, I had to help Anakin return a baby Huttlett home to his father."

He must have had a very confused look on his face. "I don't... I don't know what that is."

* * *

Boba paid his fines to the city security and then had his speeder bike towed away to be processed and turned into scrap. That was about all it was good for, anyway. Stinking bad-batcher did a number on it with that lightsaber. Almost like he was Force-sensitive.

No. Boba put that thought out of his mind. Clones of his father—Boba included—weren't Force-sensitive. _Couldn't_ be Force-sensitive. According to the Kaminoans, Force-sensitivity couldn't be cloned, even if they were to clone a Jedi. Something about cloning diluting midi-clorians, Boba hadn't really paid attention when Taun We taught him in school.

He tapped commands into his gauntlet computer and a list of landing platforms close to where he was appeared in his helmet display. He'd find them. It was what Lama Su was paying him for.

A Dug, cursing violently in Huttese, walked past him. The Dug's tunic was soaked in sludge water, Boba could tell by the way the obviously green tunic had turned a deep brown. Kurg sludge water, in fact. It had an effect on Kurg fabric, like that which the tunic was made of.

Boba ignored the Dug. He pushed him out of the way and made his way to the nearest speeder rental. The Dug screamed at him, "I've had a horrible enough day without getting brushed aside like an Ugnaut!"

Boba turned back to him and said, "I just lost a bounty. You've had a _good_ day."

* * *

Sixty-Six preferred walking. Ahsoka had sold her speeder to a random passer-by in an attempt to shake off the bounty hunter. She said that the bounty hunter would chase the speeder, but wouldn't kill its new owner. Apparently, this Boba Fett she spoke of had at least a little honor in him.

Sixty-Six had asked about Boba Fett. He'd recognized a similarity between the clone armor and Fett's, between Fett's voice and his own. Apparently, Boba Fett was a clone as well, but one who's accelerated aging had been shut off from the day he was born. He'd grown up like a normal human child, alongside his father, bounty hunter Jango Fett, the man all the clones had been cloned from.

This had made Sixty-Six wonder about his own aging. He wondered if by the age of seven, he'd appear to be nineteen or twenty. He didn't want to age much faster than Ahsoka was. Every time he looked at her, she smiled, and he wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

Sixty-Six's hand brushed past his belt and he realized, for the first time since they sold the speeder, that he was still carrying her lightsaber. "Here," he said, handing it back to her, "forgot about it."

She smiled. "Me too. You're pretty good with one of those, y'know." She took the weapon back from him. "Maybe we'll skip the simple lightsaber training course and head straight for advanced."

He laughed. "I don't think so. Certainly there's something to the basics that I don't know." He pointed to his burn wound on his shoulder. "Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten that."

She elbowed him lightly in the stomach. "That's nothing. I've been hit by blasters a bunch of times."

* * *

Anakin stood on the command deck of the _Resolute_ and watched the setting sun while the ship was refueled and restocked. Admiral Yularen was going back and forth between the two crew pits, going over protocol and procedures and getting the cruiser ready for deployment.

A hologram appeared behind him. "Anakin," Obi-Wan addressed him.

"Obi-Wan. What's the situation?"

"You're to leave immediately upon being restocked and refueled. Master Mundi has report a Grievous sighting near Selvaris, and yours is the only cruiser in range."

"Got it. It's about time we catch up with that slimey Mynock." He turned to Admiral Yularen. "Admiral, how soon can we leave?"

Admiral Yularen walked up to him and stood with his hands clasped behind his back. "We're just about ready now, General. Perhaps one hour, at most."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Good. Report once you've made contact with Master Mundi."

"We will, Obi-Wan." And with that, the holoimage winked out. "Maybe this time, Grievous won't get away."

* * *

"Seventeen clones, Master," Mace said to the holoimage of Yoda. "The Kaminoans have destroyed seventeen Force-sensitive clones. Sixty-Six is purely the only one that got away."

"Hrmm... Disturbing, this revelation is."

Mace walked a few feet away from the holotable. "They claim that the reason the clones were never handed over to the Order was because the clones were unstable. They say that their only option was to kill them."

"Unstable? Effect Sixty-Six, does this?"

"Not according to Yala Qu's last reports on him. That's why he's lasted as long as he has. They even shut off the accelerated aging gene in him sometime last year."

"And what reason for the lies, were there?"

"Lama Su's been quiet on that front, which makes me uneasy. However, I don't think I can get any more answers out of him unless he's forced."

"Then return, you must. Finished there, you are."

"Of course, Master." Before he closed down the holoimage, he said, "And Shaak Ti says hello, as well."


End file.
